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FE145: First Things First - Puppy Foundations for a Bright Future

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FE145: First Things First - Puppy Foundations for a Bright Future

Course Details

 

First Things First is the new puppy owner's guide to building strong skills and social behaviors -right from the start!  

With a progression based on my board-and-train puppy program, this sequence of layered skill building and cultured exposures will help you start working with your puppy from the moment you bring him or her home, in a way that promotes learning fun and prevents overwhelm for both of you. Whether your puppy is destined to be a beloved family pet or a future competition star, a foundation that focuses on building communication, confidence and life skills is the first step to a bright future.  The class is ideal for puppies in the 2-5 month range but would also provide a great framework for any older puppy or dog that is new to your household or experiencing structured learning for the first time.   

The class topics will include reinforcement skills (food and toys), building productive patterns, socialization strategies, and confidence building exercises. Interwoven throughout the lectures and demos will be discussion around ways to help discover your puppy for the amazing individual that they are, as well as strategies for how you can help meet their unique needs and thus allow them to blossom!   

 

Check out this trailer for a sneak peak on some of the skills we'll be working on: 

 

Teaching Approach

Lectures are released at the beginning of each week. Written instructions for each exercise are accompanied by short video demonstrations. Video demonstrations are primarily with baby puppies in the learning process so- REAL learning happens in the demos! Occasionally, older puppies in the learning stages are also used to demo specific exercises. 

Many exercises build on skills learned in previous weeks as the class goes on, in a layered approach to learning.  Many exercises involve being able to get down to the puppy's level, bending to deliver reinforcement or play games.  

Feedback is detailed and is primarily written, but occasionally may contain photos or diagrams for improved clarity. Gold and silver students can expect to receive individual adaptations to exercises as needed to best suit the handler or puppy.  All students will find value in following the homework threads and in sharing experiences with each other through the discussion forum or facebook student group.  

Erin LynesInstructor: Erin Lynes

Erin (she/her) is a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner, North America Diving Dogs judge, CWAGS scent judge,  and breeder of performance focused Labrador Retrievers under the “Eromit” kennel name. Erin’s journey in dog sports began as a junior handler, ...(Click here for full bio and to view Erin's upcoming courses)

Syllabus

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As this is a new class, some of the syllabus may be subject to change:

Pre-Class Lectures:

  • Welcome Home- Orientation Week
  • Not A Blank Slate
  • Pro Tips- Prepping before Training

Week 1

  • Potty Training - Routines and Strategies
  • Training A Lure
  • Cookie Toss
  • Room Service
  • Trick- Spin
  • Toy Test
  • Leash Walks- Happy Harness Hack

Week 2

  • Conditioned Emotional Responses
  • Crating
  • Dish
  • Tiny Tug
  • Trick- Leg Weaves
  • Hand Target
  • Name Game

Week 3

  • Socializing with other Dogs
  • Off-switch
  • Sit
  • Two Toy Game
  • Vito Game
  • Chuckwagon Races

Week 4

  • Precedents, Predictions and Patterns
  • Meet or Ignore People
  • Heel Position
  • Cookie Fetch
  • Around
  • Collar Grab & Happy Harness Hack

Week 5 

  • Noise is Good! 
  • Down
  • Fetch
  • Platform
  • Taking Turns 
  • Targets

Week 6

  • Handling & Grooming
  • Up
  • Toys Rewards
  • BackUp 
  • Baby Stays 
  • Shaping Games

 

Prerequisites & Supplies

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No Prerequisites! 

Equipment:

  • Platform (a Cato Board works great for medium and larger breed puppies, Smaller breed puppies could use something like a foam puzzle mat cut to size (large enough to easily get on and sit). The ideal platform is slightly elevated off the ground, but not much higher than the puppy's wrist. 
  • Traffic cone, Toilet Plunger, or Jump Standard (only need one of these)
  • Mat- large enough for puppy to lie on, and a different texture than your usual training surface.
  • Two identical toys, that are suitable for tugging and tossing. Most puppies like fuzzy, soft toys. You can add a string to each toy if they do not already have a longer handle. 
  • A variety of treats that your puppy will readily eat and can swallow quickly. Large dry crumbly cookies are not ideal- smaller store bought treats, small cubes of cheese, thinly sliced/cubed cooked chicken or hot dogs work great as higher value treats. In some situations you can also use your puppy's regular meals to train with  but you will want easy to feed, higher value options, available. 
  • a metal bowl (dog dish?) that is big enough to fit a spoon lengthwise inside and low enough for puppy to eat out of. 
  • We will also creatively use a few random household things throughout the class. When these come up, don't worry too much if you don't have the exact item- I'll always give ideas for substitutes and you can just use what you have on hand! 

 

 

Sample Lecture

More

 Lesson: The Vito Game

 

The vito game is a really fun pattern game that can help build all sorts of behaviors. I kind of think of it as a way to introduce shaping in a really simple way.  We are going to use it here to shape going around a prop – like a traffic cone, jump standard, plunger- ideally, something fairly stable that is at least eye level high for your puppy. 

First, we'll establish the base pattern which is moving between two reward locations. I recommend using a pair of dishes- this will work great since we just introduced the dish cue last week. 

Before you get training, set up your training location so that you have your two dishes in front of you- about a foot apart. You'll want to be sitting on the floor so that you are facing the bowls and can easily and quickly deposit treats into them. You'll need to have sufficient room on the opposite side of the bowls for your puppy to move back and forth. 

A diagram showing a lady sitting cross legged on the floor. Two dog dishes are positioned in front of her, and her dog is sitting facing her.

Get ready with some treats that your puppy can chew and swallow quickly- this is important for this exercise- slow chewy treats won't work. You'll need to be able to easily access them with both hands, so consider where you'll store them (you can also preload several treats into each hand if that helps). 

The vito game will progress pretty fast at first, for most puppies, but you'll want to keep the sessions very short and upbeat. Don't progress to the next step until you are getting good flow on the current one, and only do a couple of short sessions each day. Make a note in your training records where you left off so you can pick up at a slightly easier point then that the next day and continue to progress. 

Step 1- Place a cookie in Bowl 1- and as your puppy eats it- cue Dish! - and then place a cookie in Bowl 2. Ideally your puppy will see you place that cookie, scoot over to the next bowl.  As puppy eats that one, cue Dish! And place another in Bowl 1.  Do several (5-6) back and forth repetitions, and then take a break. It should feel fairly flowy and some puppies will be really quick at this, so it can get tiring fast! 

 

Here is a demo that shows this process- note that for this dog, my cue word was 'yes' instead of dish - you want to use whichever word you taught last week to mean 'get the cookie from the dish!' 

 

Step 2. Expand the distance between the bowls – so about 2 feet apart. You still need to be able to reach the bowls but we want the puppy to move more. Do another short session (5-6 back and forths). Take a break, moving onto the next step when your puppy is quickly moving to the next bowl as soon as you cue Dish! 

The same diagram as before with the lady sitting cross legged, and two bowls in front of her, but with the bowls further apart.  Her dog is still facing her sitting in preparation of starting the next round of fun!

Step 3. 

It's time to add your prop! You'll want to place it directly between the two bowls so that your puppy's movement pattern doesn't really change from step 2 as they go from bowl to bowl. Continue to place a treat, cue Dish!- and place a treat in the next dish, with that back and forth, for 5-6 repetitions. 

 

The diagram of the next step shows the same set up as before: lady sitting on the floor, with two dog bowls spread a few feet apart, and her dog sitting facing her. But, we've also added a prop- a traffic cone- which is placed directly between the two bowls.

Step 4. 

Here is where the shaping comes in. Slide bowls back towards you just an inch or two, so that they are no longer directly in line with your prop.   We want this to be a really gradual change to the picture- so that the puppy barely notices it- and so that they continue to go back and forth between the bowls, while going around the outside of the prop. Moving the bowls too far at once will invite the puppy to cut around the prop and take the 'inside' route nearer to you- which we do not want.  Remember to keep this session nice and short!

 

Diagram of step 4 shows our lady sitting on the floor, her dog facing her, and the prop between them. She has slid the two bowls closer to her, so they are no longer in line with her prop.

 

 

Step 5

As long as your puppy continues to be going successfully around the outside of your prop as he travels from bowl to bowl, you can keep sliding the bowls in your direction an inch or two at a time every time you play this game. This builds the distance that your puppy will go around the prop with great confidence! 

Step 6- Adding Your cue

When your bowls are sufficiently out of line with your prop, and your puppy is eagerly predicting to go out, around the prop, and to the next bowl with great success, you can introduce your cue word. I say 'Around'. You'll give your cue word just as your puppy is starting to go out and around the prop. 

 

Increasing the challenge:

Once your puppy has gotten the hang of going around your prop, we can start to change the picture a bit. Start by removing the bowls and wait for your puppy to offer to go around- reward from each hand! You can progress through all of the steps- likely very quickly- with this new picture. Do the same thing again, starting the process over, when you stand up off the floor. 

 

 

Troubleshooting: What do you do if the puppy cuts inside the prop, instead of going around it? 

- If it just happens once, carry on like it didn't happen. Everyone slips up sometimes! 

- If it happens more than once, stop and simplify your set up- move yourself and the bowls closer to the prop so there is less space, and less likelihood, of the puppy going on the inside route. Make sure when you do change the position of the bowls in comparison to the prop, that you are doing it very gradually. 

 

 

 

 

Testimonials & Reviews

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New class for the August 2022 session.

Registration

Next session starts: August 1, 2023
Registration starts: July 22, 2023
Registration ends: August 15, 2023
 

Registration opens at 11:00am Pacific Time.

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